Skip Navigation


Mol. Hum. Reprod. Advance Access originally published online on June 21, 2007
Molecular Human Reproduction 2007 13(9):621-631; doi:10.1093/molehr/gam046
This Article
Right arrow Full Text Freely available
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
13/9/621    most recent
gam046v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in ISI Web of Science
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Search for citing articles in:
ISI Web of Science (1)
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Marchiani, S.
Right arrow Articles by Muratori, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Marchiani, S.
Right arrow Articles by Muratori, M.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© The Author 2007. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Characterization of M540 bodies in human semen: evidence that they are apoptotic bodies

S. Marchiani1, L. Tamburrino1, A. Maoggi1, G.B. Vannelli2, G. Forti1, E. Baldi1,3 and M. Muratori1,3

1Andrology Unit, Department of Clinical Physiopathology, Center for Research, Transfer and High Education, DENOthe, University of Florence, Viale Pieraccini 6, I-50139 Firenze, Italy 2Department of Anatomy Histology and Forensic Medicine, University of Florence, I-50134 Florence, Italy

3 Correspondence address. Tel: +39 055 427 1486; Fax: +39 055 427 1371; E-mail: e.baldi{at}dfc.unifi.it, m.muratori{at}dfc.unifi.it

Our group has recently identified, in human semen, round bodies of different size and density which were termed M540 bodies due to their staining with the fluorochrome merocyanine 540. Here, we investigate the hypothesis that such structures represent apoptotic bodies. To this aim, by both fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) and fluorescence microscopy, we examined the occurrence of apoptotic markers such as caspase activity, Fas, p53 and Bcl-x in M540 bodies. In addition, we evaluated their ultrastructure by transmission electron microscopy. We found that M540 bodies express all the investigated markers, strongly supporting our hypothesis. We also found that M540 bodies contain fragmented DNA, another evidence of their apoptotic derivation. We investigated also the presence of M540 bodies in the different categories of patients. With respect to normozoospermic subjects, a higher content of M540 bodies was found in oligoasthenoteratozoospermic and asthenoteratozoospermic, but not in asthenozoospermic and teratozoospermic men. Interestingly, these subjects are those whose semen shows the highest levels of apoptotic signs. The variable occurrence of apoptotic bodies in semen may thus be considered a sign of abortive apoptosis in male reproductive organs. Of interest, since M540 bodies exhibit a similar size and density to sperm, they represent a confounding factor in FACS studies on ejaculated sperm.

Key words: apoptosis/human semen/M540 bodies

Submitted on May 11, 2007; accepted on May 22, 2007.


Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Hum ReprodHome page
M. Muratori, S. Marchiani, L. Tamburrino, V. Tocci, P. Failli, G. Forti, and E. Baldi
Nuclear staining identifies two populations of human sperm with different DNA fragmentation extent and relationship with semen parameters
Hum. Reprod., May 1, 2008; 23(5): 1035 - 1043.
[Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]


Disclaimer:
Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.